Who Are The Whovians?

Hello there dear reader, I hope you’re doing well. This is a feature that I never thought that I would write, but I was trawling the internet last night looking for some new creative people who enjoy to associate with our favourite TV show and appreciate their talents. It seemed like a perfectly pleasant way to spend my evening; but then I came to a somewhat unwanted realisation. Some Whovians are seemingly shaming other Whovians for totally unjustified reasons. This gave me the idea to categorically tell everyone, whether you consider yourself a Whovian or not exactly what it takes to be a Whovian.

First and foremost, being a Doctor Who fan, or ‘Whovian’ as we seem to call ourselves is more of a state of mind than having a certain skill set or knowledge about the show. If you enjoy the show and you’d like to be known as a Whovian, then welcome aboard! You’re officially a Whovian! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise or have them try and prove you wrong. The great thing about any fandom should be how inclusive it is to everyone, regardless of age, gender, sexuality, race, religion, social status or anything else. Fandoms are the families we can truly relate to and find solace in, don’t let anyone try and kick you out.

Fandoms thrive on inclusion, which naturally means that fandoms are so flipping diverse too; you could be an incredible baker, a painter, a writer, a musician, a sand sculptor or a YouTuber and you should be welcome. Being part of a fandom is a great way to showcase and develop your talents, whatever they may be. I know that there’s going to be some people reading this article thinking ‘That sure sounds great Daniel, but truth be told, I don’t really have any talents like that, does that mean I can’t be a Whovian?’ Let me tell you, imaginary person I’m having a conversation with to move this article forward, that just because you don’t consider yourself a creative person, it doesn’t mean you can’t be part of the fandom! The creative people really appreciate it when anyone looks at and appreciates their work, sometimes the most important people in the fandom are the people that read fan fictions or read an article (thanks for that by the way, I really appreciate it), or saves someones artwork as their wallpaper on their phone or even criticise something they’ve done constructively so they can make their future works even better.

Now I know there’s going to be some people that argue that certain people are only fans of Doctor Who because they thought Matt Smith or David Tennant was hot, or that you’re not a true Whovian if you haven’t seen ever episode ever, or that only ‘hardcore’ fans should listen to Big Finish or that if you can’t tell me instantly who directed the Fifth Doctor story Frontios then you’re not a true fan. (Honestly, I didn’t know who directed Frontios, but apparently it’s Ron Jones, so now you know.) And to those naysayers (great word), I say you’re wrong. Who cares if you especially enjoyed a specific actors time on a show? That’d be like saying that if you have a favourite James Bond then you’re not a (… what are James Bond fans called? 007ers? Bondies? Who knows?) true James Bond fan, it’s ridiculous. As long as you’ve got some enjoyment out of it, then you can consider yourself a fan.

If you’re reading this and still struggling with the concept of how someone can be a Whovian because they’re a 14 year old girl who’s only watched since David Tennant, hasn’t read any of the novels, doesn’t listen to Big Finish and doesn’t have an interest in going back and watching every episode since 1963; then let me put it this way.
Imagine you absolutely love chocolate cake. You’ve eaten a fair few chocolate cakes in your life and there have been a few that have been slightly dodgy, but all in all, your experience with chocolate cake has been great. Now imagine that a baker comes up to you (No, not Tom or Colin) and asks you if you’ve tried every single chocolate cake in the country; chances are you haven’t because you can only handle so much chocolate cake and it’s economically not viable to travel around your country and purchasing a slice of every chocolate cake that’s been made. Now imagine the same baker telling you that, for that reason alone, you’re not a fan of chocolate cake. It’s ridiculous right? If you enjoy chocolate cake then you enjoy chocolate cake, don’t let someone tell you that you’re wrong.

So to answer the question that is the title, Whovians are anyone and everyone who wants to be part of the Whovian world; if you’ve seen 1 episode or all 826, if you enjoy all Doctors of just the 10th and 11th, if you love or hate Martha, you can be a Whovian. I for one would love it if you were.